Smooth Bromegrass

Management

Rotational Grazing
Begin: 10 - 12”
Stop: 4 - 6”
Ave. Days Rest: 20 - 30

Hay or Haylage Harvest
Cut boot to mid-bloom

Smooth Brome requires heavy early spring and fall applications of nitrogen to maintain high yields in a pure stand. Mixtures with Alfalfa will require less nitrogen but the alfalfa will usually need phosphorus each year to maintain vigor. Best forage production is obtained from smooth brome when used in a planned cropping system and plowed out after 3 to 4 years.

Its heavy sod makes it an excellent soil conditioning crop when included in cropping systems. In deep, well-drained soils, it will root to 4 feet. Smooth brome performs best in grassed waterways, field borders, and other conservation uses where the forage can be cut and removed while in early bloom.

Do not graze the new seeding; cut the first crop for hay. In bromegrass-legume pastures, allow the legume to go to bud or early-bloom stage before turning cattle in to avoid bloat hazard, and manage thereafter for optimum regrowth of the legume. Pastures should not be grazed prior to smooth brome attaining a minimum height of 10 inches at the beginning of the grazing season. Grazing pressures should be adjusted throughout the season to avoid grazing this grass to less than a minimum height of 4 inches.